Box Score LYNCHBURG, Va. – Despite leading for most of the game, the Randolph College men's lacrosse team ultimately fell to William Peace College, 12-11, under the WildCat Stadium lights on Wednesday.
Back-to-back Randolph goals in the opening period handed the WildCats a 2-0 lead as Prince Charles and Brett Pausic each found the back of the net. The Pacers responded 40 seconds later with a goal of their own to land on the scoreboard, but would be a man down as Pausic notched his second goal of the night to bring the WildCats to a 3-1 advantage. William Peace would find the back of the net one more time to trail Randolph, 3-2, heading into the second quarter.
Another Pausic goal brought Randolph's lead to 4-2 before he fed the ball to Gage Tutko at the 9:48 mark to make it a 5-2 game. As time started to run down on the clock, the Pacers managed to capitalize on a Randolph penalty to collect a man-up goal, cutting the deficit to 5-3, before following up with another goal at the 3:05 mark to make it a 5-4 score. The WildCats tried to extend their lead, firing off several shots but were unable to hit their target as time expired on the first half.
Coming out of the break, William Peace won the opening faceoff but a turnover immediately after found the ball in the stick of Charles who fed to Josh Yeast for the WildCats' sixth goal of the night. The Pacers responded with a goal shortly after, trimming the deficit to 6-5 before hitting the back of the net at the 7:51 mark to level the score at 6-all. The tie would briefly be broken as Kadri Hearns scored for a 7-6 Randolph lead but the Pacers tied it up once more with 5:54 remaining in the quarter.
After several minutes of play where both teams tried to break the tie, Randolph made its move at the 1:03 mark as Charles fed the ball to Nick Junkin-Mills for an 8-7 edge before a last second goal by Pausic gave the WildCats a 9-7 advantage heading into the final quarter.
The WildCats extended their lead to 10-7 early on in the fourth period as Pausic scored his fifth goal off of a feed from his brother Evan Pausic. However, the Pacers would soon find their target as William Peace notched three consecutive goals to tie the score at 10-all before grabbing their first lead of the night (11-10) at the 3:50 mark. The Pacers would score their 12th and final goal of the game shortly after. Charles would place the WildCats behind, 12-11, with an unassisted goal and 2:18 left to play while Pausic would take one last try to level the score but would find his shot saved by the William Peace goalie. Once the Pacers took possession of the ball, they let time expire and secure the final 12-11 victory.
Brett Pausic led the team with five goals, firing off 13 shots with nine on target. Charles concluded the night with five shots, with four on goal, six ground balls and two assists while Evan Pausic also picked six ground balls and Hearns finished with five ground balls, to go along with six shots.
Matt Lindenbaum faced 22 shots in goal, stopping 10 while picking up four ground balls to earn the loss.
The WildCats drop to 0-2 and will return to action on Saturday, March 3 when they travel to St. Mary's College (Md.) for a 2 p.m. contest.
